The Howling of the Wind
by Kate Shephard
Summary: Jack looked startled for a moment. He soon wrapped his arms around her, feeling her shake almost violently.


**I own nothing. Zip. Nada. I was just really bored and it was storming, so I decided to write.**

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Lightning flashed through the pitch black night, lighting up everything around it. Thunder crashed above the beach and startled the sleeping woman from her nightmare-filled slumber.

Kate sat up on the airline seats she used as her bed. More thunder. She jumped and looked around her tent. She hated storms at night while she was sleeping. They made her dreams seem even more real than they already seemed. During the day she loved storms, but at night it was different. The thunder and the lightning and the wind terrified her.

Lightning flickered like a strobe light worse than it had in the two years they had been on the island. The thunder crashed so loud that it hurt her ears, and the wind was blowing so hard that the trees were bending.

Kate was scared. More scared than she'd like to admit. Why had she chosen to sleep alone at the beach without him? She spent her days in the caves with him. With Jack. They'd been a couple for a year. So why was she still on the beach?

Jumping up, she only took the time to put her shoes on. She took off towards the caves in hiking boots and the same clothes she'd wore that day.

_Almost there. Almost there._ **Smack.** She ran into someone in front of her and fell backwards, hitting the ground with a sob. Looking up, she tried to figure out who she had run into. Through all the rain and darkness all that she could see was the figure of a man. She put her hands up in front of herself as if trying to protect herself from the man.

"Freckles?" Came the southern voice as he looked down at her. Sawyer reached down and picked her up, putting her back on her feet again. He shook his head as she pushed past him in a run, then continued to make his way back from the hatch to the beach.

Kate found him sitting against the wall of his cave, going through some things in one of his bags. She hurried in and collapsed onto his lap.

Jack looked startled for a moment. He soon wrapped his arms around her, feeling her shake almost violently. "Hey…" he said softly. "Honey, what's the matter?"

Kate shook her head. "I don't like it." she told him with a small sob. "I don't like it."

Jack slid his hand up the back of her shirt, rubbing her back in comforting circles. "What don't you like, Baby?' he asked, watching her cry and struggle to catch her breath. He turned her, so was facing forward, her back against his chest. He began taking slow deep breaths, trying to get her to breath with him. It took him several minutes to calm her down. "What don't you like, Baby?" he repeated softly.

"The storm." Kate mumbled, turning sideways and leaning her head against his chest.

Jack nodded. "You don't like the thunder?" he asked.

Kate silently shook her head.

"Are you going to tell me why?" Jack asked, rubbing her back again.

"No." Kate mumbled, shaking her head once more.

Jack frowned. "How about you tell me why you don't like it, and I'll tell you why I do like it?" he suggested.

"Okay." Kate agreed after a moment of thinking about it. "It's loud." she told him. "And it makes me think of when Wayne through thing at me and my mom…"

Jack frowned and nodded. Just like promised, her told her why he liked it. " It sounds like the plane crash." he told her. "And without the plane crash, I wouldn't be holding you right now."

Kate let a weak smile crossed her lips, though it soon turned back into a frown. "I don't like lightning either." she told him quietly. "I always saw a bright like when he knocked me out."

Jack nodded a bit, helping her slip out of her wet clothes and into a long shirt that belonged to him. "But lightning brightens everything up when things are dark…" he told her. "Just like your smile brightens everything up when things are dark."

Kate smiled a bit at that, then curled up against him. "The wind reminds me of us crying." she said quietly. "Me…and my mom. It's so loud, but no one but me cares." She scrunched her face up, remembering the worst night there had been with Wayne. "It hurt. It hurt so bad."

Jack nodded. "The wind is my favorite part." he told her. "Because my mom once told me it was the sound of angels coming." He lowered his voice to a whisper, seeing she was almost asleep. "And I'd always ask why I could see them. She'd tell me because none of them were mine. But she told me mine would come some day." He looked down to see her sleeping. "I love you." he whispered, laying them both down. "And I think there's a reason the wind blew tonight…" He hugged tight, falling asleep himself.


End file.
